From Zero to Self-Sufficiency: Building a Startup from the Ground Up

When a baby is born, it needs to go through all sorts of growth, maturity, and developmental stages to become self-sufficient. It needs to learn how to walk, hold utensils, learn a language, learn to read, learn a variety of subjects about the world, learn to drive, and so on.

Typically, this process takes decades. We understand this and, therefore, don’t set too high expectations. We wouldn’t expect a toddler to answer questions about complex literature or math, or ask one to drive us to the airport.

When a new company is formed, what is the expectation that this new company becomes self-sufficient where it can be supported by revenue and can become profitable?

One has an expectation that it will take 20+ years to reach a level of adequate maturity, and the other is given a few months or a few years. Otherwise it is deemed a failure, or as Kevin O’Leary would say, “Take it behind the barn…” 

What is a reasonable expectation for a startup to become self-sufficient?

A new business must also go through various stages:

👉 Ideation and prototyping MVP

👉 Fundraising

👉 Product development / product maturity

👉 Hiring / team building / culture

👉 Operations and process development

👉 Manufacturing

👉 Marketing

Each one of these functions has a million tasks and processes attached to it, and they are often unique to the business. This takes time. This timeline needs to be factored into your business plan. Therefore, you’ll need to have the financial stamina or runway to carry the business until it can lift off and take flight. This timeline may be longer than you expected and longer than you have the capital for. Sure there are unicorns that hit an exponential growth curve almost instantly. But for the vast majority of startups, their growth is much slower.